Concerning hypnotic convincers, I think Scott Bryant hits the proverbial nail on its proverbial head –
“Nobody is ever convinced of anything until they FEEL convinced, and if you can get them to FEEL convinced, you can convince them of anything.” (Scott Bryant concerning Group Manipulation)
How convinced am I about the way things are? Why do I feel so convinced? Why do I believe in false things? What happens when I’m convinced?
Hypnotists use convincers to strengthen trance. Hypnotic convincers are essentially actions that evoke an emotional response that convinces the person performing the action that they are in a hypnotic trance. Convinced that one is in a hypnotic trance tends to cause the person to strengthen that conviction and thus deepen the trance.
How does one go about performing a hypnotic convincer. For many, a hypnotic convincer is simply the performance of an action the subject of trance believes to be impossible. For example, I might be inclined to believe a magician has sawed a person in half when I see it done right before my eyes. The more horrified I feel, the more convinced I am of the trick’s reality. I might even be so convinced that I take action against the magician who has quite obviously (to me) murdered a person right in front of me. It may even take quite a bit more work to re-convince me that it was only a stunt – and not real.
Through the use of a convincer, I may become certain of my perception of reality as THE perception of reality. The more convinced I am of my reality, the stronger my belief in the truth of it – which is, itself, a convincer – and so the cycle of self-convincing continues, ever deepening the trance that I’ve induced in myself.
Convincing ==> Deepened Trance ==> More Convincing ==> Ever deeper trance…
Hypnotic Fractionation Convincers
Fractionation in hypnosis is a trance deepening technique in which the hypnotist first induces a light trance in the subject and then returns them to normal consciousness, and then drops them back into trance – repeatedly. Each time the subject drops into hypnotic trance, they go deeper into trance and are more willing to stay in trance rather than to emerge – more convinced of the reality of the trance. The more convinced you are that the trance is real, the deeper into trance you go.
I theorize that in the process of fractionation one compares the trance state with the waking state, feels the difference, and chooses the ever more relaxed nature of the trance state. Oh, yes, once you’ve experienced hypnotic trance, you really want to return to it as often as you can. It’s SO relaxing – free of the vigilance necessary to sustain the waking state.
However – even in the trance state, one can feel negative emotion – like a nightmare. In this case, the emotion acts to deepen the hypnotic effect. Of course, I can awaken out of the trance at any time by simply choosing to do so. And yet, have you ever been in a nightmare from which you didn’t feel you could escape? How the fear was intensified the more you realized you could not escape? And how relieved you felt when you finally did awaken out of the nightmare?
Convinced Am I?
What if I am in a hypnotic trance state in which I feel convinced I’m experiencing something real. Fractionation would equate to me waking up out of the trance and then soon thereafter dropping back into it. This time, deeper in the trance, I’m even more convinced of its reality and so just a little less willing to choose to emerge out of it. In this case, it would not matter if I’m experiencing a nightmare or a pleasant dream – what does matter is my level of convinced.
I can tell you from my own experience, that it is far more difficult to emerge from a pleasant trance than a nightmare trance – because I WANT to stay in a pleasant dream. Still, nightmare or pleasant, I must CHOOSE to awaken and then I may have to choose to STAY awakened.
Consider fractionation in the metaphor of the Seven Degrees of Illumination. At level Three, I have an opportunity to choose to emerge. If I choose not to continue on to Fourth degree, I may, through the process of fractionation, return to my First-Second Degree bubble ever-more convinced of its reality – making awakening to Third Degree choice much more difficult.
Perhaps the fractionation message to me is to:
- continue questioning reality!
- choose to take full accountability (which differs from that which I perceive within the “bubble”)!
- resist conviction and certitude!
- once awakened, stay that way!!!
